Rebels’ Turner remains upbeat

Steve Addy

Thursday, July 26, 2001 | 11:41 a.m.

If only Ernest Turner could appear before the NCAA initial eligibility committee that will decide his status for the coming UNLV basketball season.

If the NCAA honchos could see his megawatt smile and experience his thoughtful, upbeat personality, they'd be hard pressed to deny his eligibility appeal just because of 10 lousy points on his SAT.

Turner, a 6-foot-2 guard from Sterling High in Somerdale, N.J., might have to sit out his UNLV freshman year because he didn't meet NCAA academic qualifying standards. He fell just short of the required 820 SAT score and was declared a partial qualifier.

That means he can be on scholarship and practice with the team in 2001-02, but not play. He would also have to petition in 2004 to get back his fourth season of eligibility.

UNLV hopes that won't be necessary. The athletic department is preparing to appeal Turner's case, but it's strictly a paperwork process. He won't get to state his case to the gang in Indianapolis.

Turner has been diagnosed with a learning disability that allowed him to take the SAT orally and untimed, but is well-spoken and engaging, even with strangers. Despite the uncertainty gripping his immediate future, his bouyant attitude could have lit up the strip Wednesday.

"If I could, I would tell (the NCAA) that I'm going to go to school and work hard. I have good work habits on and off the court," Turner said. "It's tough not being able to grasp things as fast as everybody else, but I just have to work a little harder, that's all.

"I'm just trying to take (the appeal) in stride. I just hope everything goes well with it so I can get ready for this year."

Turner is in Las Vegas this week for the Big Time Tournament, an event in which his amazing 1999 performance brought him to UNLV's attention, leading Bill Bayno to recruit him.

Playing for the Gym Rats from Vorhees, N.J., Turner scored 161 points in five games, 32.2 per game -- then the highest average in tournament history. That included a 40-point game.

Turner is not playing this year, he's coaching the Gym Rats Jr. team under the direction of his legal guardian and former AAU coach Rick Barrett. At Foothill High School, Turner's club lost 73-55 to BWBA Red from Orange, Calif., and 76-62 to Swarm of San Antonio.

While in town, Turner has played some pickup ball with his future UNLV teammates, though a right ankle sprain has lingered for a month, limiting his mobility.

For the next few months, Turner will have to await the results of his appeal. As yet, he doesn't plan to attempt the SAT again, but that could occur in the fall if the appeal fails. He put in many hours being tutored in preparation for the test, every Sunday for three months.

"The tutoring definitely helped," he said. "I don't think I would've gotten the same score without it."

But when Turner learned this month that he was 10 points short -- two correct answers out of 134 questions -- he couldn't believe it.

"My heart was on the floor. I was in shock," he said. "I know I tried my best."

If Turner fails to win the appeal, he said he will enroll at UNLV and stick it out with coach Charlie Spoonhour's program.

"If that happens, I'll definitely have to (sit out), but I don't want to. I want to play," he said. "I have a learning disability, but I'm not a bad kid. I am going to work as hard as possible in (class) and in basketball."

Barrett said, "Charlie Spoonhour will never have a problem with this kid."